My new Hyundai i20 CRDi ASTA Sparkle Blue

This is a discussion on My new Hyundai i20 CRDi ASTA Sparkle Blue within Test-Drives & Initial Ownership Reports, part of the Team-BHP Reviews category; My first car was a Santro Xing with Automatic Transmission. It was a fantastic city car and made my life ...

My first car was a Santro Xing with Automatic Transmission. It was a fantastic city car and made my life very easy for the last 5 years. However, once I started doing long drives from Bangalore to Chennai, I realized some of the shortcomings of the car. It was great to drive in the city but didn't inspire much confidence on the highways. Beyond 80-90 KMPH the Santro felt a tad unstable and raised questions in my mind on the braking ability too. Last year, my office shifted from Bannerghatta Road (10 kms from my residence) to Whitefield (30 kms from my residence). My Santro, being a petrol car with an automatic transmission, the fuel economy took a major hit and started burning a hole in my pocket. Keeping the above facts in mind,I decided to upgrade to a bigger, more comfortable car with a diesel engine.

Once I started doing research, I was stumped by the number of options available. Reading auto magazines did not help as I always had a sneaking suspicion that every publisher had their own vested interests when recommending a car. It was then that one of my friends recommended that I visit Team-BHP. I spent the next 3 months poring over hundreds of entries on the forum about each and every diesel car. Finally, after much deliberation, decided on the i20 CRDi. Took a test drive and it pretty much sold itself. My other choice was the Punto but since I kept reading and hearing conflicting reports on the after sales experience, decided not to take any chances and stuck to the i20.

Since I had a great experience with Trident Hyundai when buying my Santro, I decided to go to them for my 2nd purchase too. The 2nd time was as good as I expected and everything went very smoothly. Booked my i20 CRDi ASTA in Sparkle Blue colour on Nov 6th, 2009. Was told that the delivery would take around 5 weeks. But on Nov 23rd, got a call saying my car had arrived and it would be ready for delivery on Nov 27th. Went with my wife and daughter to the showroom with barely contained excitement. There were a good number of cars being delivered that day and we had to wait almost 45 mins before our turn came. Finally, we were escorted outside the showroom where my new car stood gleaming just like in the brochures. Impatiently listened to the sales person explaining all the nitty gritties of the car. Then got in with my family and drove back to my home carefully.

Since then, I have driven the car for around 3000 kms including 1 long drive to Chennai and back. The experience so far has been fantastic. Absolutely no regrets with my decision so far. The i20 is one amazing car and puts a smile on my face every time I get in the drivers seat. My wife and daughter are equally ecstatic. Lots of people have described the car in detail on other threads so I will just list the positives and negatives that I have observed so far.

Likes:

1) Looks: Absolutely stunning and to me looks like a big cat that is about to pounce. Just can't help admiring it.

2) Interiors: Very classy and similar to much more expensive sedans. The quality of plastics is top notch.

3) Engine: The 1.4 litre CRDi engine is silky smooth (by diesel engine standards). Once it warms up, you can barely hear the sound. Many of my friends and relatives have expressed surprise when they learn that they are sitting in a diesel car. Once it revs past 2000rpm, the acceleration is mind blowing. I have done speeds of 120 Kmph without any strain on the engine. I am sure it can do upto 150 with ease. On top of it, I am getting excellent fuel economy of 14 Kmpl in City and 20 Kmpl on the highways with AC on all the time. And this was before even doing the 1st servicing.

4) NVH levels: The sound insulation inside the cabin is fantastic. You don't hear anything except a muted growl which disappears at speeds above 60 KMPH. Beyond that, you will feel as if it is a petrol car.

5) Gearbox: The shifting is very precise though it could be a tad smoother. But still among the best in its category.

6) Build quality: The car feels rock solid and inspires a lot of confidence on the highways.

Dislikes:

1) Ride Quality on bad roads: The car behaves impeccably on good and moderate quality roads. But on really bad roads, the car sways a lot.

2) The Seat Belt Alarm: I wish they provided a way to turn off the seatbelt alarm since many people who get in my car do not want to wear the seatbelt and the alarm is irritating to say the least.

3) No Auto Locking: The central locking doesn't lock all the doors after the car starts moving. I have to do it myself. I read in some of the other threads that this can be done by the service center but they should provide the functionality by default.

4) No vanity mirrors: This is a very silly omission on the part of Hyundai. My Santro had a passenger side vanity mirror but the brand new i20 doesn't.

hello congratulations on your lovely buy but why wait for the whole year to post this experience ? please put a few photo s of the same here !! you can switch off the passenger seatbelt alarm and even the drivers seatbelt alarm goes away after driving for about 5 odd mins !!

1) Ride Quality on bad roads: The car behaves impeccably on good and moderate quality roads. But on really bad roads, the car sways a lot.

If you are talking about unpaved rough road , its true.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mvj1976

2) The Seat Belt Alarm: I wish they provided a way to turn off the seatbelt alarm since many people who get in my car do not want to wear the seatbelt and the alarm is irritating to say the least.

90% of the Swift drivers i see on daily basis in Bangalore doesn't ware the seat belt and i can see warning light blinking from the meter console. Why? there is no alarm reminder, and they used to forget to buckle up.

like 'basilmabraham' Signature says,

"It takes 3 seconds to buckle up. Dead is Forever..."

Educate your co-passengers about the benefit of wearing a seat belt and some time look in to these threads.

3) No Auto Locking: The central locking doesn't lock all the doors after the car starts moving. I have to do it myself. I read in some of the other threads that this can be done by the service center but they should provide the functionality by default.

Its comes by default on 2010 model i20's as per 'Safin' who checked with the Hyundai dealer.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mvj1976

4) No vanity mirrors: This is a very silly omission on the part of Hyundai. My Santro had a passenger side vanity mirror but the brand new i20 doesn't.

like my daughter says Shame Shame pity Shame Hyundai . I have complained this to Hyundai longtime back, and one Mr.Shiva Kumar called me up regarding this and said he will look into this and get back. I don't know when his looking will end.

I have not checked it myself but thats what my dealer had told me when I insisted on getting the feature enabled before delivery.I will get my i delivered on Sunday,so keeping my fingers crossed

Hi Safin,

As u will be getting your i20 this weekend, can you please let me know if you'll be getting any freebies other than mud flaps & floor mats? Did you take the insurance with the dealer or directly with Insurance company? Please share about ur insurance deal ASAP. Thank u.

Congrats mvj1976!
The seat belt alarm is designed to be irritating - buckling up is the easiest way to stop it!
And please request folks who ride with you to buckle up as well - airbags can be killers if one is not buckled up.

As u will be getting your i20 this weekend, can you please let me know if you'll be getting any freebies other than mud flaps & floor mats? Did you take the insurance with the dealer or directly with Insurance company? Please share about ur insurance deal ASAP. Thank u.

I got it from HMP Mumbai and since its company owned showroom,they are very tight on discounts Initially they just offered mud flaps & floor mats, later on after much negotiation they agreed to give anti-rust coating.

Insurance from dealer was about 17k, so Dad got it directly through his friend who is an insurance agent Total quote about 13k

I got it from HMP Mumbai and since its company owned showroom,they are very tight on discounts Initially they just offered mud flaps & floor mats, later on after much negotiation they agreed to give anti-rust coating.

Insurance from dealer was about 17k, so Dad got it directly through his friend who is an insurance agent Total quote about 13k

Safin,

Can u please provide the name of insurance company ? Has the dealer confirmed that you will be getting a 2010 manufactured vehicle?